Picking Up The Pieces
by Jiu-jitsu dude
Summary: Everyone has a way of dealing with the fallout of meteor and geostigma.
1. Chapter 1

**Deal with the Devil**

 **Cr00cy is Chief Editor Forever**

* * *

Over an hour. That's how long Reeve had been watching Cloud train in the WRO gym.

He'd heard of getting tired from watching someone work before, but he thought he'd at least need to be able to conceptualize himself doing the workout to feel anything like that. He was under no such illusions as to his ability, and so watching the blond warrior was just…fascinating. Fascinating in the way that watching a circus performer complete some impossible feat was fascinating.

What really struck Reeve, was that he hadn't stopped moving the entire time. Cloud was in perpetual motion, calisthenics had become sprints, which had given way to a gymnastic routine, all performed with perfect form despite the breakneck pace.

The real work however, began when the young man had picked up his sword.

Reeve wasn't sure what to call what he had been watching for over half an hour, but shadow boxing seemed as appropriate a term as he was going to find. He wasn't sure if that did it justice however. Cloud had started off tentative, feeling out his invisible foe, searching for openings and keeping his blade at the ready. Whoever Cloud was fighting in his mind must have been a powerful threat to have the blond so hesitant, he thought. Threats, Reeve corrected himself, as he watched his friend dodge back and begin looking from side to side. He was fighting multiple opponents. Reeve swore that he could almost see them with the way Cloud bobbed and weaved around their invisible strikes, a look of concentration on his face as his eyes constantly scanned the room, and careful footwork kept the imaginary threats in front of him.

Cloud was losing this fight.

His young friend had been pushed back against a wall of the gym, and he could imagine his assailants watching, stalking, circling, waiting to deal the final blow.

The tide turned in an instant. Cloud's eyes snapped to left as the first opponent struck, moving out of the way like a snake before striking through the air with a finality that said that foe would not rise again. He pivoted, bringing himself around to face the rest of the attackers, and lunged. Gone was the hesitant man who had fought and careful defensive battle against losing odds. In his place was a berserker, an angry war god, a threshing machine, one that was cutting down everything in its path.

Now, Reeve could almost see the invisible men stumbling, leaping, and diving to get out of the way of the blade. One must have been too slow, or tripped, because Cloud drove his blade downward, then wrenched it free of an invisible body, shifting his gaze to those that remained. They didn't last long. Within a few more moments, Cloud stood alone with the single remaining opponent, circling him with an easy grip on his sword and an air of an overwhelming confidence. Reeve wouldn't call it arrogance, just a deadly certainty of the outcome.

The two men leapt in, and Cloud's blade flashed. The battle was over.

Reeve marveled at the warrior in front of him, and that's certainly what he was, a warrior. If anyone's hands had been made for war, it was Cloud Strife. He winced a little at the thought. He supposed that the 'made for war' part of that applied a little more… _literally_ to Cloud than most, considering his time in Hojo's care.

The young man planted his sword in the ground, leaned on it, and let out a long breath. His head turned to locate the sound of clapping in the room.

Reeve realized with some small surprise that he was the one clapping. Cloud smiled at him.

"Didn't realize I had an audience. I would have put on a show."

Reeve scoffed. "Don't try to make the rest of us feel any worse about our conditioning than you already do, thank you."

The blond smirked. "What brings you down here anyway? Do you creep on all your employees while they work out?"

"It's more of a rotating schedule really. I'm a busy man, I can't stalk everyone all the time. This way, people can't accuse me of playing favorites."

Cloud laughed.

"But really, you have a job for me? The bar could use some upgrades, so I'm looking for work."

"I do, I need someone to deliver supplies to Fort Condor, they've been helping us keep the land trade routes open."

Cloud nodded. "I'm on it. I'll head out tomorrow morning." He turned and began walking over to collect his gym bag.

"Cloud." Reeve called after him. The blond turned back to him, he hesitated for a moment, then asked. "Do you mind if I ask you a…personal question?"

His friend considered him for a moment, then shrugged. "Shoot."

"Would you…would you change what was done to you, if you could?"

Cloud barked a laugh. "Damn, that IS personal. What brought this on fortune teller?"

Reeve sighed. "I met with Vincent the other day, and the thought has been with me ever since. I knew him before…before what happened. I can see the stark differences in him, it's…strange."

The swordsman smirked at him. "And you didn't feel like trying to ask him?"

He shuddered. "No thank you. I prefer all my organs where they are at the moment. I have a feeling he wouldn't take this as well as you are."

"I think that's the first time anyone has ever accused me of being emotionally stable." He joked.

"To be fair, look at your competition." He smiled back. "It's just always struck me as such a Faustian bargain."

The blond raised an eyebrow. "Faustian-what-now? Reeve, I want you to think about where I grew up, how early I left home, and the rather large gap of time there in the middle."

He shook his head. "It's a deal with the devil Cloud-"

"Oh, like in the song 'the devil came up to Nibelheim?'"

He sighed. "I suppose, but in this case, you generally lose something in return, not beat the devil in a fiddle competition. You both underwent indescribable tortures, but you were…gifted," he said carefully, "with incredible abilities because of it. Abilities without which, we very likely wouldn't have been able to stop Jenova and Sephiroth."

"Huh, I must have slept through the negotiating part of that deal. I don't remember getting a choice in the matter."

He winced. "I agree that the analogy falls apart a bit there."

Cloud waved it off. "Don't worry about it." He considered for a moment, mulling the question over. "I...I don't know man." He stared down at his hands, as if considering the unnatural power within them. "I think that question is too big for me, you know? I would do damn near anything to take back what was done to Zack and me, to take back what I put everyone through." He paused. "But if I did, would I have been strong enough to kill Sephiroth? Would I have been able to save Tifa? How many Nibelheim did we prevent by bringing down Jenova?"

He shook his head. "You're asking me if I would change the worst experience of my life at the risk of dooming the world. That's too big a question to ask and get a real answer."

He looked at his older friend, his eyes tired. "The answer is both yes and no. Yes, of course I would, who wouldn't? And no, how could I, when I know what tragedies it has allowed me to avert?"

Reeve nodded in understanding.

Cloud chuckled. "You're a real downer. I remember Cait being more fun."

"Coming from you, that is especially cutting." He replied.

They shared a laugh.

"I'll make it up to you. Let's go get lunch at the bar, my treat."

"Tifa and the kids will be excited to see you, but can you spare that kind of time Mr. President? I thought you had big-shot things to do?"

He scoffed. "I'm the boss, I make my own hours. They just happen to match whatever my secretary tells me they are." He finished with a smile.

Cloud shook his head. "Let's head that way then."

Reeve fell into step behind his young friend. The warrior may not be able to answer his question now, but he had a feeling that when they stepped through the doors of Seventh Heaven, and the three smiling faces of his family greeted his, Cloud Strife would have his answer.

* * *

 **Just some dabbles that pop into my head from time to time.**


	2. Scar Tissue

**Scar Tissue**

 **Part of the 2018 Fanworks Exchange**

* * *

Tifa Lockheart considered herself a pretty lucky woman.

She hadn't always thought about it that way. There were times in her life, many times in her life, that she'd wondered who had it out for her. How life could be so unfair? It had taken her mother, her father, her village…how much more was it going to try to take before the end, she had wondered.

As it turned out, quite a lot. However, where life took away, it also seemed to give back in some strange way.

It had made her feel weak and helpless, but it had given her the strength to fight monsters.

It had taken away her world and left her lost, but opened her eyes to how lost the world as a whole was.

It had taken away her family but…she looked out the window of the bar, spotting Cloud working on Fenrir, as Denzel chatted animatedly behind him. She looked down to Marlene, sitting beside her and carefully pouring lemonade into four large glasses.

It had given her a new one.

"I'm going to go check on the boys, ok Marlene?"

"Kay, I'll be out in a second!" The girl promised.

She smiled as she made her way around the bar, walking towards the back door. She pulled the sliding glass door and felt the oppressive heat of the Edge summer hit her in the face.

"Whoo, that's hot." She exclaimed, drawing Cloud's attention.

"You're telling me!" He laughed. "This thing's killing me."

She leaned against the door frame and frowned. "Still giving you trouble?"

He shook his head in disgust. "Yeah, haven't been able to figure it out yet, but I'll get it. I'll need to anyway, if I'm going to keep up with the delivery schedule."

"You could always take a break, you know?"

He flashed her a smile. "We already cut back, gotta feed these munchkins somehow." He said, as he stripped his soaked shirt off to get some relief from the heat.

She wanted to argue with him. To tell him that the bar made more than enough money on its own that they didn't need the delivery service, despite how nice the extra income was. She had points, good points too, but when she saw the way the sweat rolled down his toned chest, she got…distracted.

Yeah, she considered herself a lucky woman.

"I've got lemonade!" Marlene announced as she made her way through the door with a tray filled with glasses, earning an excited cheer from Denzel.

"Thanks Marlene." Cloud said.

"No problem Cl-" The girl gasped as she dropped the tray, her hands flying up to her face, and glass shattering on the concrete.

Tifa was on her in an instant.

"Marlene! Are you ok!? What happened baby?" She asked as she scanned over the girl for cuts. Marlene stared past her, her eyes locked onto something. Tifa turned and followed her gaze to Cloud, and she understood, and understanding broke her heart.

To her, Cloud Strife was a beautiful man, but she knew he wasn't, not in the traditional sense at least. Her eyes trailed over his form, a patchwork of scars that had been forever altered by the life he'd led. She could see the dotted surgical scars from his time in Hojo's care, the burns from Nibelheim, the countless gashes and bullets wounds from years of fighting in the vanguard, so they didn't have to. To her, they made him Cloud, but as she looked back to her adoptive daughter, she could tell they were scaring her.

Cloud realized It too, and his hand reached out for his shirt, ready to pull it back on.

"Wait!" She spoke without thinking, freezing the blond in place, and earning her a confused look. She'd known that he was self-conscious about the scars, and whether she realized it or not, Marlene was hurting the man.

"Wait." She reaffirmed, waiting for his slow nod before turning back to Marlene. "Marlene, what's wrong?" She asked gently.

The girl slowly pointed towards Cloud. "He's hurt…there's so many."

"Tifa…" Cloud started, before she silenced him with a look. She returned her attention to Marlene. "Do they scare you?"

The girl nodded.

Tifa hummed. "Did you know that each of those means something? That they're for one of us?"

The girl gave her a confused look and shook her head. She held out her hand, taking Marlene's and slowly leading the girl over to the blond warrior. She motioned for him to kneel, which he did – reluctantly, and waved Denzel over.

"Look here." She said softly, running a finger along a very old, very familiar scar that ran along the man's chest. A stab wound from the worst night of their lives. "This one is for me." She gave him a smile. "Cloud made me promise that he'd come and rescue me one day, and just when things were at their darkest, he came in and saved me, like a knight in a fairy tale."

The girl's eyes followed her hand as it moved its way to another scar, a vicious and puckered bullet wound. "This one is for aunt Yuffie. Got it during a mission in Junon, when we were trying to find a submarine. Pushed her out of the way when some Shinra troops got the drop on us."

He shivered as her hand traced down his side, coming to rest on his ribs, where a clear set of claw marks were etched. "These are for Vincent." They were also from Vincent, but she didn't mention that. "He was struggling with some demons, and we got scared for him. Cloud was the only one able to help him." The girl looked up to the swordman's face, and he slowly nodded.

She guided Marlene to a section of burned and angry skin that ran along his abs. "This is for uncle Cid, fighting dragons near Mt. Nibel."

Her hand ghosted along his chest, making its way up to a jagged, vicious looking scar along his collar bone. "This one is for Nanaki." She said, making sure the girl was watching. "Fighting against the monsters beneath Cosmo Canyon."

She slowly reached out, taking Marlene's hand, and guiding it to an angry gouge running along Cloud's right breast. "This is for your father." She half-whispered, before removing her hand from the girl's. Marlene didn't move away, instead slowly tracing along the old wound with awe in her eyes, as Cloud looked on nervously.

"How?" She asked quietly, eyes never leaving the scar.

Cloud looked up to her, and she gave him a reassuring nod. He needed this, she needed this.

"We were in the Northern Crater, going to find Sephiroth." He started slowly. "We ran into a remnant of Jenova, and your dad went down."

The girl let out a gasp, and Tifa squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, motioning for Cloud to continue.

He swallowed, wincing at the memory. "We didn't have time to try to heal him before it went after him again, I tried to get in the way…not that it did much good."

She tsked at his self-deprecation. "You took its arm off."

"Cool!" Denzel cried, earning him a small smile from the blond warrior.

"Was he ok?" Marlene asked.

Cloud snorted. "You dad? You know what he said to me when we were both down there on the ground bleeding?"

She slowly shook her head.

He chuckled before lowering his voice into a mock-Barret baritone. "Spiky! What'd you do that for? You've may have gotten crazier since I met you, but you still the same old dumba-"

"apple!" Tifa cut in, shooting him a look, which only made him laugh.

"Yeah." He agreed. "A dumbapple."

"You sure it wasn't a dumbass?" Denzel asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Denzel! Where did you learn that word!?" She cried, as Cloud broke down in laughter, throwing an arm around the boy and drawing him in to tussle his hair.

She shook her head. She supposed this was par for the course for Strife family moments.

"Is there one for Reeve?" Denzel asked.

Cloud smirked. "I'm sure I've got a papercut here somewhere from all the paperwork he's made me fill out." He said, causing the boy to laugh.

The blond began to rise, and her hand shot out again, landing on his shoulder and pushing him back down.

"There's one more." She told him, earning her a confused look. She pointed to the center of his chest, where the clear craters of an exit wounds from Loz and Yazoo's bullets could be seen. Marlene's hand moved on its own accord this time, moving around the edge of one of the scars.

"Who?" She asked.

She leaned over and grabbed Denzel's hand, placing it on the wound's twin. "You two." She whispered.

The girl's hand drew back for a moment, as if stung, before slowly returning.

"For us?" She asked, searching the blond man's eyes.

He nodded. "For both of you."

"Wow." Denzel let out in an awe-filled whisper, covering the wound with his hand, as if trying to feel the enormity of it.

The kids wouldn't be satiated after that, attempting to find every scar on the blond's body and ask the story behind it. She smiled as she watched the scene play out. The young warrior always worried about how it made him look to the rest of the world. But to her?

They made him beautiful.


End file.
